Platform Statement

Ariana Walker

Miss North Dakota 2011

Ronald McDonald House Charities: Raising Awareness, Funds & Hope

“We believe that when you change a child’s life, you change a family’s, which can change a community, and ultimately the world.” Ronald McDonald House Charities Vision Statement

A most crucial time for parents and children to be together is when a child faces a serious medical condition or emergency. Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) keeps families together by providing free or low cost housing to the families of seriously ill children receiving medical treatment at local hospitals or clinics. As Miss America, I will raise awareness, funds, and hope for the families of the Ronald McDonald House Charities as my personal platform.

RMHC houses parents and siblings of pediatric patients ages 18 and under, as well as financially dependent college students up to age 21 and high risk maternity patients. In my community alone, over 200 families are housed each year from western North Dakota. RMHC supports 300 houses in 30 countries; there are three in my state.

I had an opportunity to speak with some of the parents and children served by RMHC during a Sweet 16th anniversary party of our local Ronald McDonald house in Bismarck. The parents I visited with were just as strong and brave as their children. I was moved by their stories, which is one reason I decided to pursue a degree as a pediatric physical therapist and one day open my own clinic to help kids.

In addition to offering these families a place to stay when their children are in the hospital, RMHC provides other medical and dental services. Currently, the Bismarck Chapter is raising money for a Care Mobile which will travel to communities bringing much-needed dental care to underserved children in the western part of our state. Dental services will include exams, X-rays, cleanings, fluoride treatments, sealants, fillings and simple extractions. This program will cost $650,000 annually beginning in the fall of 2011.

I help RMHC raise awareness and money for the House and the new Care Mobile by making presentations in classrooms and churches. The House cannot have visitors in the winter due to colds and flu compromising the health of family members who may infect pediatric patients, so I travel throughout my state with information and fundraising ideas. This also helps free up the RMHC staff to do other things. As Miss North Dakota, I will be a spokesperson when the Care Mobile is launched in November 2011. This will include media interviews and public appearances. I will also attend fundraising events like the RMHC golf tournament in Bismarck, the Dickinson Cabin Fever benefit, and the annual picnic and Sweetheart Ball in Fargo.

RMHC is an ideal fit with the official charity of the Miss America Organization, which is the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals (CMNH). As Miss America, I will work to bring Ronald McDonald House Charities and CMNH together. Both are equally important in restoring the health and well-being of a child because one serves children and the other serves families. As an aunt and a health care professional, I am good with kids and I am comfortable speaking to groups of all ages and interests about the need to improve health care for our nation’s children. As Miss America, I will bring awareness to the medical needs of children through Ronald McDonald House Charities and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.